When you love someone, you support their hopes and dreams. You push them to reach their full potential. You don’t hold them back out of fear of losing them. You don’t try to anchor them in one place because you’re worried they’ll move onto bigger and better things that don’t include you. You’ll do whatever it takes to help them along their journey, to push them toward reaching their goals. You would never dream of holding them back or forcing them to choose you over their passion. You know that they can have it all. They can sustain in a healthy, happy relationship with you while also living out their wildest dreams. It doesn’t need to be a competition.
When you love someone, you celebrate their wins. You cheer over their successes. You don’t resent them for accomplishing more than you. You don’t let your jealousy get in your way or cheering them on. You make sure they know how proud you are of everything that they’ve accomplished. You go out of your way to pop open a bottle of champagne or plan a celebratory trip because you want their hard work to be rewarded. You want them to realize how special they are.
You should never make your partner feel guilty about following dreams that don’t include you. There should be more to their life than your relationship. Your love isn’t going to be the only thing keeping them going. It’s good that they have aspirations they’re working toward reaching. You should congratulate them for how hard they work – not guilt trip them into feeling bad because the more time they spend chasing after their dreams, the less time they’ll have to spend on you.
When you love someone, you want to reach out and help them in any way possible. That might mean showing up at competitions or taking over the bulk of the chores for a few days so they can study or prep for an interview. Either way, you’re up for the challenge because you wouldn’t want to let them down. You want to support them as much as possible, through your actions as well as your words. Since you want this person to be happy – not just with you, but in life overall — you would never dream of stepping in the way of what they want more than anything. You would never slow them down.
Partners are meant to support each other. To encourage each other. To pick each other up when they’re feeling disappointed, directionless, and discouraged. If you love your person, then you won’t let them talk badly about themselves. You’ll give them pep talks and reminders that they have what it takes to achieve their dreams. You’ll make sure they know you’re always in their corner, you believe in them, and you trust that they’re going to get there eventually. In fact, they are almost there. They just need a little push – and you’re going to give it to them. You are going to make sure they never give up on themselves.
